ACE Day 2017 at Six Flags Magic Mountain

The American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) held ACE Day 2017 at Six Flags Magic Mountain on Saturday, September 9, 2017. This was a fun event for local members of ACE to get together and ride some roller coasters. It was a beautiful day, not too hot, and the park really wasn’t that crowded.

The event included morning ERT on Twisted Colossus, Justice League: Battle for Metropolis, and Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom, so check-in began early at 8:30 am. Dave, Steve, and Chris manned the check-in table out front:

Once I got my name badge and wrist band, I was off to the races:

There was a good turnout for the event, with over 100 people registering:

Once the gate opened, almost everyone made a bee line for Twisted Colossus. Since I had only been on Justice League once so far, I headed off to Metropolis:

I was the only one there, and it was a little weird. The entire plaza was empty except for me. However, I wasn’t complaining at all:

It was kind of cool being the only person on the ride. I rode it three times in a row without even getting up. It was like having my own personal ride vehicle:

After getting my fill of Justice League (great fun, by the way!!), I headed over to Twisted Colossus to get a ride in before the park opened. This coaster still kicks butt:

When the park opened to the public, ACE was treated to a special behind the scenes tour of Twisted Colossus. Donald Spiller, the park’s Director of Operations, joined us and said a few words before we headed backstage. One little secret he let us in on is that they will soon be adding small accessory bags to the back of the seats on Twisted Colossus. This will hopefully decrease dispatch times with less people needing to put stuff in the bins on the far side of the train when loading (Yay!!):

When taking a backstage tour of Twisted Colossus, you get a bonus of seeing Scream up close and personal as you walk past it. The new paint they put on it a couple of years ago is holding up quite well and still looks great:

The ride ops team was doing great and the trains were racing quite often:

I only had my iPhone with me that day, so the photos aren’t as good as I had hoped:

As we made our way around the structure, we stopped at the base of the first drop:

You can get some really nice close-up photos of the trains from here:

Most people don’t know this, but there is still a small section of the original Colossus track that was left in place near the bottom of the first drop. They had to leave it because it was critical to the stability of the structure. You can only see it from backstage:

Another bonus, we got unique shots of Goliath as well:

Heading down the first drop into the tunnel:

And coming back out of the tunnel:

It’s kind of cool from here because you get to see both of the first drops from a unique perspective. I only wish we were there long enough to see all three trains drop at the same time:

Walking around underneath Goliath will never get old to me:

You almost get close enough to high five everyone as they pass by:

Time for a group photo:

Lots of twists and curves to Goliath that you don’t normally get to see:

Here’s a shot of Scream’s first drop from behind Twisted Colossus:

After the tour, Steve Berto (the ACE SoCal rep) and I took a quick spin on Goliath:

After Goliath, we headed up to Ninja and took that for a spin. I should point out that Fright Fest was only a week away from starting, so most of the Fright Fest decorations had already been put up, including the entrance façade to Willoughby’s Mansion:

The Sky Tower and American flag looked great in the setting sunlight:

I’m addicted to the shakes at Johnny Rockets. I must get one every visit:

I thought this was great. I kept seeing this kid all over the park:

In the late afternoon, we all assembled at the Metro Pub for a social hour. We ate, had drinks, and got to catch up with each other. Gavin and Donald graciously donated a beautiful gift basket from Six Flags to be given away to an ACE member:

Steve Berto, our SoCal regional rep for ACE, said a few words and drew for the winner:

The lucky winner was David Blumenfeld:

I’m not sure who was more excited, David or his son Justin:

It was great spending time with and catching up with my buddy Gavin:

Of course, its always a pleasure seeing Donald as well:

As the sun went down, the lights around the park looked awesome! Of course, it’ll all be dark starting next week with Fright Fest kicking off:

Check out the awesome lights on Viper:

Even from the darkness of the parking lot, the coasters were all very well lit:

That’s it for this update! We had a great time and I can’t thank ACE and Six Flags Magic Mountain enough for hosting this event. If you’re not an ACE member, you certainly should be. Annual memberships start at only $35, and you can even get a trial for only $20! If you were an ACE member, and had a Six Flags season pass, this event was absolutely free to attend. Just go to ACEOnline.org right now and click on the Join button at the top. Be sure to tell them”The Coaster Guy” sent you and they’ll say “Who?” 😉

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Very cool, unique shots. Hopefully those bags on T.C. help, I haven’t been lucky enough to duel the last few times I’ve gone. I’m hoping to go tomorrow, maybe I’ll get lucky. Can’t wait for Crazanity, my choice would be Swingzanity, updates.